DS Railways launch tree plantation in Multan

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Divisional Superintendent Pakistan Railways, Multan Division, Shoaib Adil, launched the tree plantation drive in the Division by planting a tree. 

He directed all the Stations Masters in the Division to plant 50 plants each while the PWI was told to plant 2,000 trees. 

Following the directives of the Minister of Railways, the Divisional Superintendent started tree plantation campaign while planting trees at various stations during an inspection tour. 

Meanwhile the DS Railway Multan also carried out an inspection tour as part of his mission for safe train travel through the division. 

During inspection he inspected station buildings, met the concerned staff and made various queries to them besides checking the relevant records. He advised the field officers to give more time to their field visits instead of sitting in their offices. 

The DS was accompanied by DCO Hameedullah Lashari, DME Rana Imran, Divisional Engineer Abdul Razaq, SP Railway Amjad Manzoor and other officials.

Railways upgrades payroll system

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistan Railways, as part of its journey to modernization, has upgraded the payroll system of its employees who could now see the status of their salaries while sitting at home.

In this regard the Deputy Director IT, Railways Headquarters, Lahore, Ali Imran, visited Multan and briefed the railway officials and employees about the newly introduced system. 

Accompanied by Divisional Personnel Officer, Nabila Aslam, the DD IT Lahore, informed that the salary structure of all the railway staff has been centrally computerized and they can now go through their salary status even from their homes.

UN, global community urged to act

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Pakistan's Ambassador to China, Moin-ul-Haque, has urged the international community for taking necessary to ease the suffering of Kashmiri people, a year after India abolished the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019. 

In a newspaper interview, he called global community to take actions to alleviate the suffering of the Kashmiri people. 

“The international community and the UN should ensure that India revokes its illegal actions taken on and after August 5, 2019,” he stated. 

"Pakistan expects the global community to play the role of honest broker in the dispute, and take concrete actions to ameliorate the sufferings of the Kashmiri people. We could only hope that the growing international condemnation would dissuade India's fascist religious-nationalist regime from their illegal acts," he added.

Chinese technicians arrive to accelerate power transmission project

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The second batch comprising of 76 technicians from the China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. Ltd. (CET) has arrived Islamabad on a chartered flight to strengthen the staff capacity to expedite work on the ongoing Matiari-Lahore Transmission Line Project.  

The Matiari-Lahore DC Power Transmission Project is a priority undertaking of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework. 

The China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of State Grid Corporation of China, had started work on the project on December 1, 2018. At present, a total of 1,069 Chinese and 1,505 Pakistani personnel have been engaged in the project. 

It is the first DC power transmission project in Pakistan and the first local project open to foreign investment in power transmission and converting. 

The Chinese technicians have reached Islamabad over the weekend, according to a report published by China Economic Net (CEN). 

At the peak of COVID-19 in Pakistan, the State Grid Corporation of China effectively concentrated on its task by sending support technicians as well as most needed the anti-pandemic supplies to Pakistan through chartered flights. 

The first batch of 130 support technicians for the Matiari-Lahore DC Power Transmission Project had reached Pakistan on June 10. In the next phase, the State Grid will accelerate the construction of Matiari-Lahore DC Power Transmission Project to ensure that it would be put into operation on schedule.

Pakistani mangoes reach China; swift customs clearance

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The first consignment of Pakistani mangoes, popularly known as ‘king of fruits,’ has arrived at Kunming, the capital city of China's Yunnan province. 

This is the first consignment to have arrived Kunming, the importer revealed in a communication on August 10. 

In order to keep the mango original in taste as it’s classified as a perishable fruit, the Customs authorities acted swiftly as soon as the consignment arrived at the airport. 

According to details it had landed there at 19:03 China time, the customs clearance was quickly completed at 20:49 and handed over to the importer who promptly began the process of sorting out the consignment.

Khunjerab Pass temporarily reopened

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The land link between Pakistan and China, the Khunjerab Pass, was temporarily reopened early in August to facilitate flow of goods between the two countries. 

On August 4, four vehicles loaded with agricure products and one comprising anti-epidemic materials were allowed to cross through the Khunjerab Pass, which was closed because of COVID-19. 

Also a major tourist attraction, the Khunjerab Pass is a high mountain pass in the Karakoram mountains, in a strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan’s Gilgit–Baltistan's Hunza and Nagar districts and on the southwest border of China’s Xinjiang province. Its elevation is 4,693 metres or 15,397 feet.

Railways’ chairman visits KCR tracks

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The chairman of Pakistan Railways, Habib-ur-Rahman Gillani, has held important meeting regarding revival of the Karachi Circular Railways (KCR) project during his visit to the metropolis on August 10. 

The meeting was attended by Divisional Superintendent Karachi, Arshad Salam.Khattak, Project Director KCR, Ameer Mohammad Daudpota, Deputy DS, Farid Ahmad, besides concerned engineers working on the KCR project. 

The Railways chairman visited various stations and level crossings of the KCR project from City to Drigh Road while travelling en route Baldia, Shah Latif, SITE, Orangi, Nazimabad, Gillani and Urdu College stations. He also held a trolley inspection of the loop. 

He carried out a detailed review of KCR Revival project and directed that ongoing work be further accelerated so that the Karachiites could benefit from the revived KCR facility at the earliest. 

While inspecting the SITE area, he expressed concerns over the disposal of hazardous pollutants on the KCR track. 

He was informed by the DS Karachi that the Sindh government had been approached for resolution of this issue and it would soon be sorted out. 

The chairman, after visiting the area of Green Line route that crosses the KCR track in Nazimabad, called for expeditious communication with the relevant authorities so that the proposed underpasses or overhead bridges could be timely built. 

The Project Director KCR informed that various meetings had already been held with the Sindh government which has allocated Rupees three billion during the current fiscal year for this purpose.

NBP wins prestigious Asian awards

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) has been declared as the Corporate Client Institution Award of the Year by the famed magazine Asian Banking & Finance (ABF). 

NBP has also won the Best Innovative Deal of the Year Award for Pakistan. 

These are acclaimed as the most prestigious banking awards in Asia, having been reintroduced this year to honor outstanding banks that had launched groundbreaking products and services which successfully adapted with the rapidly evolving tech landscape. 

The banks with successful deals and innovative initiatives which made a positive impact to their clients were recognized and NBP, one of the leading financial institutions of the country, has earned more feathers to its cap. 

Established in 1949, NBP currently has more than 1,500 branches in the country besides have 20 plus branches abroad.

Xinjiang Islamic scholar rebuts propaganda

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Prominent Islamic scholar and the President of the Xinjiang Islamic Association, Abdulrickv Tumyazi, in a text and video message, has urged some Western leaders as well as media to refrain from kite flying reporting and not to disseminate baseless news.

"Our message to some of those in the West is to come and visit Xinjiang and learn the truth. Don't say anything baseless,” Tumyazi asserted in the video.

He added that they lived in Xinjiang as free as fish in sea. He pointed out that the religious people and scholars were not happy over what was being propagated against Xinjiang by the people with vested interests. 

“We believe that if things in Xinjiang are not observed in person it’s not possible to assess the reality. Our message to some of the Western leaders is to come here and witness the truth,” he stated.

Shanghai Electric inducts more workers to accelerate Thar Coal project

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The Shanghai Electric has flown in around 500 engineers and management staff from China to expedite the development task on the Thar Coal Block-1 project under the auspices of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 

The implementation on development work on fast track on the Thar Coal Block will help employment opportunity for local population as well, a Chinese social media website reported on August 10.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure foolproof protection to the Chinese workers from COVID-19, the standard operating procedures (SoPs) defined for the pandemic will fully be implemented while executing the project.